Electrical plug and receptacle



Oct. 13, 1942.

E. P. BRUS ELECTRICAL PLUG AND RECEPTACLE Filed July 22, 1940 ters Patent, Serial No. 259,350, filed March 2, to 13, inclusive.

Uitti'iED Se'ii Freiheit? ELECTRICAL PLUG AND RECEPTACLE Emile P. Brus, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Sta- Tite Plug Corporation, Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application July 22, 1940, Serial No. 346,779

2 Claims. (Cl. 173-334) This invention relates to electrical connectors Fig 7 is a perspective View of the combined conand particularly receptacles and plugs usable tact blade and prong which is used in the recepwith conventional outlets and with the Welltacle shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive. known extension cords, and the primary aim is From the following specication, it will become the provision of such units that have a minimum 5 clear to one skilled in the art that the broad number of parts and that may be made by emconcepts of this invention might be used in conploying a prong such as shown and described in structing electrical connectors of the specific type my co-pending application for United States Letshown in either Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive, or Figs. 8

1939, now Patent No. 2,238,099, issued April 15, The receptacle commonly referred to in the 1941, and relating to improvements in Electric trade as three-way has a body of insulating Plllgmaterial, generally designated by the numeral l 6.

A further aim of the instant invention is to This body comprises two substantially identical provide in an electrical plug and receptacle, a sections IS, each of which has a cavity 20 eX- body of resilient insulating material, which body tending inwardly from a side of body i6. Cavicooperates with specially formed blades in mainties extend inwardly from three sides of body taining the legs of the blades in position against IG when the receptacle is assembled as in Figs. 1 an inserted prong so that a good contact is esto 3 inclusive. tablished. When sections I8 are secured together by rivets A further aim of this invention is to provide 20 or analogous means 22, cavities 20 are in register an electrical receptacle and plug wherein the and the parts thereof in each section I8 are segblades and outwardly extending prongs are uniiegated through the employment of a partition tary and may be assembled with the body of 24 constructed of resilient insulating material. aforementioned character, after the blades and This partition 24 is separately molded from rubprongs are riveted together, said prongs and 25 ber or the like, and serves a distinct purpose, as blades having laterally extending portions that will be more fully hereinafter set down.

engage a surface on the body and through which, Each part of cavity 20 has a combined contact in some instances, a fastening element may be blade and prong, shown in Fig. '7. The contact passed to hold the parts together. blade 2E is rigidly secured to prong 28 before the This invention has for an even further aim, D parts are assembled and such construction allows the provision of a specially formed body for electhe use of a standard prong that is made in trical plugs or receptacles, which body has a accordance with the invention disclosed in my cavity extending inwardly from one side thereof aforesaid co-pending application. that is divided into two parts by a partition oi Prong 28 has a lateralli7 extending arm 3B at resilient substance, which partition serves to exert 55 011e end thereOf Which leS against the laterally a pressure against one of the legs of the contact eXtelldHg Dort-i011 32 0f blaCleS 25- A rivet 3l blades when the plug or receptacle is in use. Secured tOgether Parts 35 and 32 Of DrOIl 23 and Other objects of the invention include simblade 26 respectively, and When the Combined plicity of construction, cheapness of manufacture, Contact blade and prong are in place, the lateraland exceptional durability by virtue of a mini- 1y projecting parts Will Set against One face 0f mum number of parts. body I6.

One form of receptacle and a single type of The laterally eXteIldrlg arm and perterl 39 plug are shown in the accompanying drawing, and 32 respectively, lie in a chamber 39 which wherein: opens inwardly from the abutting faces of sec- Figure 1 is a side elevational View of an elec. 40 tions t8. A notch 31 in each section I8 receives trical receptacle made in accordance with the a DOItOrl 0f PrOIlg 23 S0 that When SeCtOrlS I8 present invention. are together, notches 31 become long enough to Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. receive prong 28. Thus, assembly becomes easy Fig. 3 is an edge elevational view of the recepv because eaeh breng 23 leS in a HOtCh in each tacle. U0 section I8.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view through the re- Any force exerted longitudinally on prongs 28 ceptacle taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 1. will be overcome by laterally extending arm 30 Figs. 5 and 6 are plan views of the sections Striking either the upper Surface 0f body I6 forming the body of the receptacle showing the fermed by Chamber 39, 01 by laterallt7 eXteDdIlg same parted. @Je portion 32 striking the lower surface of body I6 within chamber 39. Thus, when prongs 23 are forced into a conventional receptacle or when prongs from an extension are moved into cavities 20 between legs 36, the normally destructive pressure is absorbed within the body and is not harmful to the relatively thin material from which legs 3e are constructed.

Blade 26 is formed of a single sheet of resilient metal to provide a pair of legs 3S and a bight 38. Blades 2B are in the form of a cross, as seen in Fig. 7, and the receiving cavity 2% is likewise so formed so that a blade 2S and associated prong 28 may be fitted into each section i8 of -body I6.

After the blades are positioned, partition 24 is introduced into cavity 23 to electrically isolate the two blades and their associated prongs 28. The rivet or similar member 22 will hold together the sections of body I6 and partition 24 will bear against proximal legs S6 of the two sets of blades 2S.

When a prong of a conventional electrical ex tension cord is forced into cavity 2? vbetween legs 36 of blades 26, legs 36 will tightly grip the prong and be assisted in their gripping action b'y the inherent resiliency of partition 24 which lies in the related position shown in r'g. 4.

The three-way receptacle illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive and described hereinabove, comprises a relatively low number of parts and when the two-part body is fastened together, no additional securing means other than the integral members of the combined prong and blade need be used to hold the entire receptacle assembly in operative condition.

Sections i3 or body I are molded, and the combined contact blades and prongs, shown in Fig. 7, are associated with the body through the employment of but two rivets or screws in each instance. The resulting article is obviously advantageous from the standpoint of a less complicated electrical connector, and while the preferred form of the invention has been illustrated, it is desired to be limited only by the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described, a split body of insulating material comprising mating sections, each section having a cavity extending inwardly frorn one side thereof, a pair of spaced apart contact blades in each cavity, a prong rigid with each of said pairs oi blades, means for securing said sections together with the cavities in registering relation, and a resilient partition between said pairs of contact blades to urge a blade of each pair toward its corrsponding blade when a prong of an extension is inserted therebetween.

2. In a device of the character described, a split body of insulating material comprising mating sections, each section having a cross-shaped cavity extending inwardly from one side thereof, a pair of spaced-apart, crossshaped contact bladesV in each cavity, a prong rigid with each of said pairs of blades, means for securing said sections together with said cavities in registering relation, and a cross-shaped resilient partition between said pairs of contact blades to urge a blade of each pair toward its corresponding blade when a prong of an extension is inserted therebetween.

EMILE P. BRUS. 

